Tribune Pulse - May 24, 2018 - Volume II - Issue 19

Most Transplant Recipients in One Place: Baskent University Breaks World Record

On May 12, 2018, Baskent University set out to break the Guinness World Record for the largest group of organ transplant recipients in one place at one time. 457 transplant patients from all four corners of Turkey travelled to Ankara to take part in the "New Life Journey: Atatürk Walk and Run" organized by Başkent University at their Bağlıca Campus in Ankara.

New Study Will Probe Safety of HIV-to-HIV Kidney Transplants

May 19 - A new study may pave the way for HIV-positive patients to receive organ transplants. The National Institutes of Health this month announced the launch of the HOPE in Action Multicenter Kidney Study to research the safety of kidney transplantation from HIV-positive donors to HIV-positive recipients.

IS THIS STEM-CELL CLINIC REALLY MAKING CANCER VACCINES?

May 16 - ON THE FIRST Saturday of March, Kristin Comella put on a white doctor's coat and took the stage at the fourth annual conference for the Academy of Regenerative Practices. The founder and president of the academy, Comella also oversees an expanding empire of stem cell clinics that promise patients cures for most anything that ails them. None of those treatments—for everything from diabetes and asthma to multiple sclerosis and arthritis—have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Living donor kidney transplantation is widely practiced, but the cost of evaluation for donors is very poorly understood. Much of this cost is assumed to be due to the nephrectomy itself, but no formal studies have accounted for repeat testing, additional testing due to incremental findings, and consideration of other tests that are needed because of the donor's personal medical history. Habbous et al studied the health care costs of 1099 donors in Ontario, Canada. The incremental costs were found to be $16 290 (for the donor) for the entire evaluation, perioperative, and 1-year follow-up periods. The perioperative cost varied significantly across transplant centers. These data provide a useful framework to make care of the living donor more cost effective. Note, those costs may vary in different health care systems!

Is volunteering for a future TTS initiative or committee project of interest to you?

In the News

Researchers uncover clues to early lung transplant failure

May 22 - Among organ transplant patients, those receiving new lungs face a higher rate of organ failure and death compared with people undergoing heart, kidney and liver transplants. One of the culprits is inflammation that damages the newly transplanted lung.

May 22 - How to install new capabilities in cells without interfering with their metabolic processes? Scientists have altered mammalian cells in such a way that they formed artificial compartments in which sequestered reactions could take place, allowing the detection of cells deep in the tissue and also their manipulation with magnetic fields.

Crusaders disease re-emerges despite liver transplants

May 17 - Health professionals on Thursday said it was imperative for Cyprus to stay updated on the latest research on amyloidosis, also known as Crusaders' disease, after it emerged that the disease re-emerges in a significant number of people who have undergone liver transplant.